The Hindu Business Line : Steve and Barry’s ropes in Indian partner

Brand call
Expected to announce operations in next 4-6 weeks.
Will have some amount of local sourcing for apparel.
Biz models based on smaller margins, higher volumes.

Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai, Oct. 3 The New York-based retailer Steve and Barry’s is planning to enter the Indian market through the FDI route by picking up a 51 per cent stake in a new joint venture.

The balance stake would be held by a local partner, Mr Avirat Sonpal, Managing Director, Unisource Group and Vice-President, Steve and Barry’s.

Making use of the single brand retailing norm, the US retailer is expected to announce its operations for the Indian market within the next four to six weeks.

The Unisource Group has been Steve and Barry’s sourcing company based in India for the past six years and is also funded by the international retailer.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Sonpal said: “I will be Steve and Barry’s local partner when it enters the Indian market as a retailer. The single brand retailing route would be used under the Steve and Barry’s brand name. We will announce our operations within the next few weeks.”

Apparel, footwear

The US-based retailer, which dabbles in categories such as apparel and footwear, is expected to enter the Indian market in the same segments. “There would be some amount of local sourcing for apparel while for footwear, we would be resorting to the Chinese market. The business model for Steve and Barry’s does not entail setting up a manufacturing base in the country,” said Mr Sonpal.

With intentions of being a ‘value-based’ retailer, Steve and Barry’s is expected to compete with the local Indian retailers on the basis of its pricing strategy. “We intend giving the quality of apparel available at Pantaloon or Shoppers’ Stop but with prices that will be lower than a Big Bazaar. The local manufacturers will have a run for their money,”’ Mr Sonpal says.

The business model of Steve and Barry’s is based on economies of scale with smaller margins and higher volumes, and the same model is expected to be adopted for the Indian market.

Steve & Barry’s has been sourcing its apparel from Indian textile companies such as Bombay Rayon and Alok Industries. “We have had had liaisons with the garment export companies who have been supplying readymade garments to the stores at New York all these years,” said Mr Sonpal.

Having been the procurement company, the Unisource Group has been operating an affiliate for Steve & Barry’s for the past six years from Mumbai. It provides supply chain solutions, retail operations solutions, and support solutions for Steve & Barry’s University Sportswear, U.S.A .

Its operations are almost similar to Wal-Mart’s sourcing company (Walmart Buying & Sourcing Pvt Ltd) based in Bangalore.

Started by childhood friends Steve and Barry to sell screen-printing T-shirts for $1 at flea markets across Long Island and New Jersey, Steve & Barry’s currently has about 220 stores in the US.

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